The Expected Points of an NFL Player Based on Age: Regression Models & Football Statistics

View/Open

Date

Author

Metadata

Abstract

Since the beginning of history, man has been obsessed with finding patterns in the
world. Ancient rulers would contact oracles to help read the patterns in the stars or in the
way a flock of birds fly. By finding the patterns they hoped to unlock the secret of the
universe, and gain the ability to predict the future. In today's modern world, statisticians
take place of the oracles, and coaches take the place of ancient rulers, "[Statisticians]
focus on the use of probability and statistics for analyzing and interpreting data in order
to understand the game better, and ultimately perhaps to provide advice for teams about
how to make better decisions," (Stern 4). With the help of statisticians, many coaches ·
hope to gain an advantage by better predicting what the opposing team will do.
Statistics in sports are seen almost everywhere. They were used in very early
board games, such as "Stat-o-matic" and "Sports Illustrated Football." (Both games used
statistics of teams and players to determine likely outcomes of certain situations). The
statistics used in these games have advanced into many of the current simulations in such
games as Madden 2006 and NCAA 2006. Statistics are not only used in board and video
games: they are also seen in the professional sports domain.